Towards the assessment of technology transfer capabilities: An action research-enhanced HDM model

doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2019.101217

Technology in Society

Volume 60, February 2020, 101217

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2019.101217 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
A Comprehensive List of Important Factors for Technology Transfer.
•
Action Research integrated with Hierarchical Decision Modeling.
•
Technology Transfer in the Energy Sector.

Abstract

Scholars widely recognize and accept technology transfer as an integral part of research and development management, and the topic has been subject to research for more than 40 years. Nonetheless, there are still several gaps in the body of knowledge, and also numerous ways in which practitioners fall short of understanding and properly developing technology transfer capabilities. The objective of this study was to create a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model to evaluate an organization's technology transfer capabilities, ultimately leading organizations to improve it. A novel methodological approach was used – action research and hierarchical decision modeling – and the resulting model, an action research-enhanced HDM model, was validated by a pool of 39 subject matter experts coming from different backgrounds and having different skill sets. This study contributes to the advancement of the bodies of knowledge of technology transfer, hierarchical decision modeling, and action research, while also taking the first steps towards building a decision model to bridge the gap between theory and practice and help practitioners in measuring and improving their technology transfer capabilities.

Introduction

Scholars widely recognize and accept technology transfer as an integral part of research and development (R&D) management, and the topic has been subject to research for more than 40 years. Nonetheless, there are still several gaps in the body of knowledge, and also numerous ways in which practitioners fall short of understanding and properly developing technology transfer capabilities. The motivation for this study came out of the realization that these barriers can hinder organizations that develop technologies from successfully deploying it, either by bringing it into the market as products and services, or by implementing it into their operations in order to improve their internal processes.

Since one cannot improve that which one cannot measure, the objective of this study was to create a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model that depicts, in a thorough fashion, critical factors that must be measured in order to evaluate an organization's technology transfer capabilities, hence providing a basis for the later application of the developed model. In the long-term, the vision is that such model could be used to help organizations understand their technology transfer status quo, and hence to help them design action plans that, once implemented, would ultimately lead organizations to improve their technology transfer capabilities.

After this introduction, the study is structured as follows: a brief literature review brings general information on the technology transfer and its body of knowledge, highlighting some of its gaps. Next, a novel methodological approach - that of integrating action research (AR) and hierarchical decision modeling (HDM) – is presented as a means to tackle the previously identified research gaps. Following the methodological discussion, the action research project that served as an encouragement for this study is briefly described, and the initial version of the AR-enhanced HDM model is defined, with an explanation of its structure, perspectives, and factors. The section that follows brings information on how the initial model was validated by subject matter experts (SMEs), including the rationale behind the identification of SMEs, the expert panels formation, and the validation results for each part of the model. Additionally, the validation section lays out two hypotheses that were to be tested by ways of the validation process. Lastly, a conclusion section brings reflections on the results and the implications for both practitioners and researchers, while also delineating paths for follow-on research studies.

Section snippets

Technology transfer and relevant gaps

Technology transfer is a multidisciplinary effort, involving multiple perspectives that have to be taken into account simultaneously in order for the transfer to be successful. The very definition of technology transfer can be confusing and emanate different interpretations. Several different definitions are observed across the literature, each one with slightly different perspectives and nuances. In the early days of TT research, Bar-Zakay stated that technology transfer happens when a

Hierarchical decision modeling (HDM)

Hierarchical Decision Modeling (HDM) is a MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) method and was developed in the 1980's by Kocaoglu [42]. The basic idea of HDM is to represent the problem in a hierarchical disposition, so that the decision makers can visualize which items (criteria and sub-criteria) can affect the objective/mission. According to Munkongsujarit et al. HDM helps the decision maker by presenting the decision problem as a cascade of problems that are simpler to handle [43]. This

The tech transfer project – an encouragement

The approach proposed in this research was developed after the conduction of an action research project, aiming to assess and enhance technology transfer capabilities of a major federal power utility in the Northwest region of the United States. The action research project, which preceded this study and aimed at enhancing that organization's technology transfer process lasted for approximately two years.

The project started aiming to create a more formal process/framework to enhance the agency's

Building the AR-enhanced HDM model

Taking advantage of both the literature review and the knowledge generated in the action research project, an initial model was built – following the framework depicted in Fig. 3.

The model factors were organized into five perspectives: Human Resources and Stakeholders; Organizational Culture; Technical; Process; Strategic Alignment. The initial research model is depicted in Fig. 4. The factors underneath the five perspectives were extracted from two main sources: an extensive literature review

Validating the AR-enhanced HDM model

Aware of the methodological novelty being implemented in this research, the validation process would serve two purposes: that of validating the model itself; that of testing and validating the methodological approach.

In light of the methodological novelty validation, two hypotheses are created and tested throughout this study:

1.
If, during the validation process, the majority of model components coming solely from the action research project are rejected and dropped from the model, then the

Conclusion and future research opportunities

This research sought to create a comprehensive and practitioner-oriented hierarchical decision-making model to help technology managers measure their organization's technology transfer capabilities. A literature review was conducted, shedding light on issues and gaps in the technology transfer body of knowledge, most importantly the realization that current research does not provide practitioners with a thorough enough depiction of which capabilities should be in place in order for

Acknowledgments

This project was funded by Bonneville Power Administration a part of US Department of Energy.

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Towards the assessment of technology transfer capabilities: An action research-enhanced HDM model

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Technology transfer and relevant gaps

Hierarchical decision modeling (HDM)

The tech transfer project – an encouragement

Building the AR-enhanced HDM model

Validating the AR-enhanced HDM model

Conclusion and future research opportunities

Acknowledgments

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Res. Policy

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Technovation

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Technovation

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Technovation

Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang.

Res. Policy

Technovation

Energy Policy

Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci.

Energy Policy

Technovation

J. Eng. Technol. Manag. JET-M

Technovation

Res. Policy

Technovation

Energy Policy

Energy Policy

Eur. J. Oper. Res.

Technology transfer model for Austrian higher education institutions

J. Technol. Transf.

A survey analysis of university-technology transfer in Israel: evaluation of projects and determinants of success

J. Technol. Transf.

A technology valuation model to support technology transfer negotiations

R. D. Manag.

Developer-user interaction and user satisfaction in internal technology-transfer

Acad. Manag. J.

Development of a technology transfer score to inform the selection of a research proposal

Portland Int. Conf. Manag. Eng. Technol.

Similarities of successful technology transfer through new ventures

Int. J. Innov. Manag.

Knowledge-integration-based Technology Transfer Mode for Manufacturing Firms

Academic spin-offs, corporate spin-outs and company internal start-ups as technology transfer approach

J. Technol. Transf.

“Effects of technological innovation on eco-efficiency of industrial enterprises in China

Nankai Bus. Rev. Int.

International and domestic technology transfers and productivity growth: firm level evidence

Ind. Corp. Chang.